Bidens L. (Coreopsideae, Asteraceae), a new generic record for Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - Check List
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NOTES ON GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION Check List 17 (4): 1049–1053
https://doi.org/10.15560/17.4.1049
Bidens L. (Coreopsideae, Asteraceae), a new generic record for Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Sabitha Sakkir1*, Parappurakkal Thazhe Arunraj2, Maitha Al Mansoori1, Pritpal Soorae1
1 Wildlife Assessment and Monitoring, Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 45553, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates • SS: ssakkir@
ead.gov.ae https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7603-9249 • MAM: maitha.almansoori@ead.gov.ae https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2897-4571 • PS:
psoorae@ead.gov.ae https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5267-191X
2 Department of Botany, University College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala-695034, India • droseraindica333@gmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-
0003-0644-6380
* Corresponding author
Abstract
We report a collection of Bidens pilosa L. from an urban habitat in Abu Dhabi. This represents a new generic record
of Bidens L. for the emirate. The species has most likely been accidentally introduced and has the potential to affect
the native flora because of its fast rate of growth. The new record expands the geographic distribution of the species
and highlights the importance of expanding surveys to include urban habitats, which would help track the spread of
non-native species within the emirate.
Keywords
Accidental introduction, Arabian Peninsula, Bidens pilosa, invasive alien species, urban habitat
Academic editor: Radosław Puchałka | Received 11 March 2021 | Accepted 30 June 2021 | Published 19 July 2021
Citation: Sakkir S, Arunraj PT, Al Mansoori M, Soorae P (2021) Bidens L. (Coreopsideae, Asteraceae), a new generic record for Abu Dhabi, United
Arab Emirates. Check List 17 (4): 1049–1053. https://doi.org/10.15560/17.4.1049
Introduction
The Emirate of Abu Dhabi, which is the largest emirate Bidens L. (Coreopsideae, Asteraceae) was not previously
in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), occupies an area of known from the emirate. In Abu Dhabi, Asteraceae is the
67,340 km2, supports diverse habitat types with charac- second largest family after Poaceae, and is represented
teristic flora and fauna. Abu Dhabi is home to around by 43 species belonging to 27 genera (EAD 2016).
436 species of native plants (Al Dhaheri et al. 2017) and The genus Bidens, the largest genus of the tribe Core-
eight alien plant species (Soorae et al. 2015). Apart from opsideae, consists of approximately 230 species which
the main native habitats, the emirate also supports urban are distributed in tropical, subtropical, and temperate
habitats that exhibit rich biodiversity like their native regions (Sherff 1937; Chowdhery 1995; Strother and
counterparts. Until recently, little attention was given to Weedon 2006; Knope et al. 2020; POWO 2021). Bidens
vegetation in arable land and urban green spaces, even pilosa is one of the common species of the genus, with a
though they are common in the emirate. Recently, field documented occurrence in 59 countries around the pan-
surveys in urban habitats recorded Bidens pilosa L. for the tropical areas of the world (Xuan and Khanh 2016). The
first time from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the genus species, which is native to South and Central America,
© The authors. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
1050 Check List 17 (4)
has now become a naturalized weed of tropical, subtropi- deposited in the EAD herbarium. The distribution map
cal, and warm temperate regions of the world (ISC 2014). of the species was prepared using ArcGIS v. 10.5 (Fig. 1).
In the Arabian Peninsula, the species have been reported
from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, and the UAE (POWO
2021). In the UAE, the species was previously recorded
Results
only in Ras Al Khaimah, in the northern region (Mah- Bidens L.
moud et al. 2015). Our new record is an addition to the
Sp. Pl. 2: 831 (Linnaeus 1753). Type: B. tripartita L. ( Sherff 1937)
segetal flora of Abu Dhabi and expands the geographic
distribution of the species. This record also highlights Erect or diffuse herbs. Stems terete or angulate, branched,
the importance of expanding surveys to include urban variously pubescent, striate, or sulcate. Leaves oppo-
habitats, which would help track the spread of non-native site, simple or compound or pinnatisect, entire, toothed.
species within the emirate. Heads homo- or heterogamous, radiate or discoid, soli-
tary or corymbose-panicles, usually pedunculate. Invo-
lucre campanulate, biseriate, shortly lyrate at the base;
Methods outer involucral bracts (outer phyllaries) membranous or
We carried out vegetation surveys in various urban habi- leafy; inner involucral bracts (inner phyllaries) membra-
tats of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi during 2018–2021 to nous, with spinulose margins. Receptacles flat or convex.
document the alien and native species present within the Ray florets, white or yellow, mostly sterile. Disc florets
emirate. Sites included locations on Abu Dhabi Island, yellow, fertile, 5-lobed. Anthers black. Style branches,
in its mainland suburbs and in Al Ain City. Urban habi- apically pilose with a short, narrow appendage. Achenes
tats surveyed included gardens, golf course, date palm black or brown, fusiform or linear, tetragonous, truncate
orchards, and roadside verges. The field attributes were and erostrate at the apex. Pappus of stiff, smooth or re-
collected using an iPad based IOS Collector App, which trorsely barbed bristles (Jeetendra Kumar 2017).
directly syncs with the Environment Agency – Abu
Dhabi (EAD) plant database. Specimens were collected Bidens pilosa L.
and identified using relevant literature and floras (Sherff Sp. Pl. 2: 832 (Linnaeus 1753). Lectotype: LINN 975-8! designated
1937; Chowdhery 1995; Mahmoud et al. 2015; Jeetendra by D’Arcy (1975)
Kumar 2017). A voucher specimen of the new record is Figure 2
Figure 1. Geographic distribution of Bidens pilosa L. in the UAE. The green circle represents the new record of the species from Al Ain. The
red square represents the previous record of the species from Ras Al Khaimah.Sakkir et al. | Bidens pilosa from Abu Dhabi 1051 Figure 2. Bidens pilosa. A. Habitat. B. Habit. C. Radiate capitulum; notice wilted white ray florets in the periphery. D. Discoid capitulum. E. Achenes. New record. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Abu Dhabi more or less quadrangular, green, sparsely pilose. Leaves Emirate • Al Ain City, date palm orchard; 24°13.064′N, opposite, petiolate; lamina pinnatisect 2.5–18×2–11cm, 055°45.963′E; alt. 289 m; 10.II.2021; Sabitha Sakkir leg.; segments ca. 6 × 3 cm, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, base EAD777. truncate, apex acute or acuminate, margins serrate-cil- Annual herbs, 30–120 cm tall. Stems erect, branched, iate, pinnately nerved, sparsely pilose on both surfaces.
1052 Check List 17 (4)
Peduncle ca. 8 cm long, terminal, pilose solitary or sev- is a problematic species for many reasons throughout its
eral heads in lax corymbs. Capitula discoid or radiate, range and a troublesome weed to at least 30 crops in over
glabrous. Phyllaries in 2 series; outer phyllaries 7–10, 40 countries (GISD 2021). The presence of the species in
linear to linear-spatulate, 2.7–5.0 mm long, 0.5–1.2 mm the UAE also indicates its great tolerances to the harsh
wide, green, surface glabrous, margin ciliate; inner phyl- climatic conditions (Mahmoud et al. 2015).
laries 8–10, lanceolate, 3–5 mm long, 1.0–1.8 mm wide, Until now, the species has not been found to spread far
brown, glabrous, margin hyaline. Receptacle flat or con- beyond orchards. The orchards in Al Ain City are a part
vex, hispid. Ray florets present or rarely absent, 3–8 if of culture and tradition of the UAE and tourist attraction
present, usually sterile, corollas true ray, commonly with an influx of visitors. Based on our field observation,
white or rarely yellow, tube up to 5 mm long, limb 0.45– B. pilosa was most likely accidentally introduced and has
6.0 × 2.0–3.5 mm. Disc florets, 35–75, perfect, corollas the potential to become invasive (Pysek et al. 2004). The
tubulose, yellow, 3–4 mm long. Stamens 5, anthers lin- species is capable of producing a large number of flower
ear, flat, 1 mm; ovary inferior, oblong, 4-angled, 1.5 mm. heads in four generations per year, with a potential of pro-
Style 3 mm, stigma bifid, hairy. Achenes 8–16 mm long, ducing a large number of viable seeds ranging from 3000
linear, obcompressed-quadrangulate, 2-grooved on both to 6000 per generation (ISC 2014; Xuan and Khanh 2016).
sides, 4–6 ribbed, costate, dark brown to black, glabrous Moreover, the seeds of B. pilosa, which are awned, could
below, tuberculate above, outer achenes shorter than in- cling onto suitable surfaces such as clothes, shoes, and
ner ones. Pappus, 1–3 mm long, composed of 3–5 awns, the fur of animals (Xuan and Khanh 2016) and get trans-
retorsely barbed. ported easily by wind, humans, and animals (ISC 2014).
The fast growth rate and high reproduction poten-
Chromosome number n = 36 (Ballard 1986; Tereza et
tial and easy dispersal will enable them to invade varied
al. 2006).
urban and semi-natural plant communities, and they may
Habitat and ecology. The new record B. pilosa is from ultimately invade natural habitats. Our record of B. pilosa
a date palm orchard, in a moist shady habitat. The date from Abu Dhabi is not only important as a new record of
palm orchard is in the middle of Al Ain City and is the the genus in the emirate, but it also is an alert for future
largest of Al Ain’s oases and a UNESCO World Heri- threat to the native flora. As B. pilosa is a highly repro-
tage site, covering an area of 1,200 ha. Bidens pilosa is ductive weed with aggressive dispersal (Mahmoud et al.
a segetal species of this date palm orchard. The associ- 2015), it is essential that systematic surveys are needed
ated species include ruderal or segetal species such as to measure the rate of spread in urban habitats. To avoid
Cyanthillium cinereum (L.) H. Rob, Euphorbia heliosco- plausible threats to the flora of Abu Dhabi from acciden-
pia L., Lysimachia arvensis (L.) U. Manns & Anderb., tal introduction of invasive plants, regular monitoring
Sida urens L., Medicago sp., Sonchus sp., etc. The spe- programs are needed to keep a close watch on the spread
cies is abundant in the date palm orchard, with more than of non-native species.
500 mature individuals.
Acknowledgements
Discussion
We are grateful to Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi
Due to increased urbanization and changes in land use, research and technical committee for their support and
many alien species have been recently introduced into valuable comments on our manuscript. We thank the
Emirate of Abu Dhabi through various means (Shahid reviewers for their critical comments and suggestions to
2014; Mahmoud et al. 2015; Soorae et al. 2015). The improve this article. We also thank Shahid Khan (Envi-
Emirate of Abu Dhabi includes Abu Dhabi City and Al ronment Agency – Abu Dhabi) for preparing the distri-
Ain City, which are amongst the fastest-growing urban bution map.
centers in the Middle East. Frequent disturbances due
to rapid development of infrastructure have paved the
way for many alien introductions. Like other parts of the
Authors’ Contributions
world, the use of exotic species as ornamentals rather Conceptualization: SS and PS. Formal Analysis: SS and
than native species in urban landscaping has intensified PTA. Project Administration: PS. Writing – original
the introduction of many alien species, many of which draft: SS and PTA. Data curation: SS and MAM. Meth-
are invasive (Alam et al. 2017). odology: SS and PS. Validation: SS and PTA. Writing-
Recently, the flora of the UAE has been enriched by review and editing: SS, PTA, MAM, and PS.
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